Barcelona v Celtic: seven reasons for Neil Lennon's team to be optimistic about Champions League success

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has warned his players, ahead of Tuesday night's
Champions League game at the Nou Camp, that the Barcelona of Lionel Messi,
Xavi and Andres Iniesta can 'eat you alive.' But there remain reasons for
optimism ...

Glory days: Ronaldinho in action for Barcelona against Celtic in the 2004 Uefa Cup.Photo: AFP

By Thom Gibbs and Steve Wilson

3:57PM BST 23 Oct 2012

Celtic have form at the Nou Camp

In manager Neil Lennon, Celtic at least have a man at the helm who knows what it is to get a result at the Nou Camp in the green and white hoops.

Twice as a player he visited this corner of Spain and came away with a draw. Back in 2004, Celtic travelled to Barcelona protecting a 1-0 lead from the first leg of their Uefa Cup match.

Then world player of the year Ronaldinho huffed and puffed and dribbled and shimmied but could not get the better of some effective backs-against-the-wall stuff from the visitors.

Barcelona have a home record in the Champions League somewhere between imposing and imperious.

It's been almost three years to the day since they lost a home game in this competition, but Celtic can take heart from the game in question.

It was the not-so-mighty Romanians Rubin Kazan that turned over Barca in 2009, pulling off a scarcely believable 2-1 victory in the Nou Camp despite almost total Barcelona dominance from a team featuring Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Xavi.

More good news for Celtic is Barcelona shipping four goals in their most recent league outing.

Forget for a moment that they scored five in response. With 10 men.

Defensively the Catalans are vulnerable. Injuries to Carles Puyol, Dani Alves and Gerard Pique, as well as midfield anchor Sergio Busquests, mean they will most likely line up with Alex Song and Javier Mascherano as their defensive middle pairing.

Neither is a specialist in the position and with Celtic's threat in eh air from set pieces there remains hope.

The uncertainty of Song and Mascherano contributed to the four goals Deportivo scored at the weekend. They don't like it up 'em.

An unfancied Scottish side taking on the might of Barcelona. The yeoman-like triers against footballing aristocracy. It's a classic David v Goliath story.

And anyone who paid attention in their Sunday school class will tell you that, sometimes, David comes out on top.

Others have been there and done that. Specifically Dundee United, who stand alone as having a 100 per cent record against Barcelona in European competition. Four games, four wins, most notably in a two-legged Uefa Cup tie against Terry Venables team on route to the final of the competition.

Alright, he's led his team to an unbeaten start to the season which has put them eight points ahead of Real Madrid after eight games, and kept the same hypnotically glorious style of play honed by his predecessor.

But ask yourself this crucial question: Which of these men looks coolest?

Clue: It's not the one mugging for the camera and giving a thumbs up.

Tito can't rock an expensive suit like Pep, and is a solid 40 per cent less handsome than his former boss.

He didn't do too badly when he managed a team against one of Guardiola's in a charity futsal match, though: